Home with a cold this afternoon I curled up in front of the gas fireplace and finished reading Death of a River Guide, the first novel by Richard Flanagan, which I've been savouring over lunch hours for the past few weeks. It came as a housewarming gift from smileyfish along with two boxes of blended tea. Book and beverage are redolent of her home in ( Read more... )

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I'm doing this meme because this is what's on my mind today anyway.

The Rules: Don't take too long to think about it. Fifteen authors (poets/playwrights included) who've influenced you and that will always stick with you. List the first fifteen you can recall in no more than fifteen minutes.

1. Ursula K. LeGuin
2. Annie Dillard
3. Luci Shaw (poet)
4. Cyrus ( Read more... )

This afternoon I returned home from Dad's place. He is doing well.

While visiting I did little writing, a lot of knitting and a lot of reading. I am revisiting Robertson Davies' Cornish Trilogy. I heard him read from the manuscript of The Lyre of Orpheus in 1987 before it was published, and the three books have become favourites. They are dark and ( Read more... )

On the way to Guelph Farmers' Market I passed Macondo Books, and there on an outdoor display table, shining in the sun, lay a used copy of a book I've always wanted, Biological Exuberance: Animal Homosexuality and Natural Diversity by Bruce Bagemihl, Ph.D. Today, appropriately, I'm substituting for someone's shift at Out On The Shelf, so I've ( Read more... )

Yesterday Danny and I headed to the Fergus Highland Games. It would have been my first time. Halfway there the sky opened up-not just a little rain, but a downpour to turn any field into a lake. We turned around, stopped to buy local corn and other summer delicacies, and returned to our cocoon.

I've been reading voraciously. Last post I forgot to ( Read more... )

Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale (1985) is set in a near-future Dystopia, in which a religious regime has taken over the American government, civil liberties have been suspended, and fertility rates have dropped drastically due to unknown environmental factors. Ring any bells? While reminiscent of 1984, it presents original themes in Atwood's ( Read more... )

I have returned home, only briefly, from my working vacation at Jane and David's new cottage in Point Clark on Lake Huron. I helped David trim windows, doors and floor, build a staircase, and construct IKEA cabinets for the kitchen. Most of the pine construction will be left unpainted and unstained to develop a natural patina, and I spent ( Read more... )

I've been reading more lately. This is an act of will and love, to fill my head with words, wordplay and stories. Last week I finished Not Wanted On The Voyage by Timothy Findley, an old favourite revisited.

Then, in less than a week, I read The Hours. It's not a long novel, but last night I started halfway through, and that was a problem. Around 2 ( Read more... )

Work has not been steady lately, which causes endless anxiety. I try not to worry too much, do whatever I can in a day, concentrate on creative solutions, and not get distracted from dedicating as much free time as possible to artistic endeavours.

I've conceived a small project for the fall, another chapbook, but don't want to reveal the ultrasound ( Read more... )